The invention relates to a rack for displaying and first-in, first-out dispensing of products such as products or jars for retail sale. More particularly, the invention relates to such a rack that is front-loading and front-dispensing.
In many conventional display racks, a row of product is held in a lane or chute arranged on a store shelf such that only the first product in the row is visible and accessible to the consumer. When the first product is removed, the entire row of product is moved forward either by a spring mechanism or by gravity so that the second product in the row is moved forward to the front of the chute for access by the consumer.
When reloading or topping off a rack, it is generally desirable to “rotate” the stock by loading new products such that they are at the back of the row of products, so that the first products dispensed are the older products that were already in the rack (i.e., “first in, first out” or “FIFO” dispensing). This rotation of stock can be cumbersome with many conventional racks because it may require opening up the rack, which may be difficult to do in the limited space typically available on the store shelf.
Generally, each of the products to be displayed and dispensed includes a front face having a label or the like with indicia (e.g., text and/or graphics indicating what type of product it is, etc.) that the consumer would like to be able to view. It is desirable for the indicia to be viewable without having to remove one of the products from the rack. With many existing first-in, first-out dispensing racks, this is not possible because there is no assurance that the product will be oriented with its front face facing forwardly when it arrives at the front of the line of products.